Dear Chris White: How would you feel if you found "Die yuppie scum" in ugly black marker defacing your front window one morning? That happened to my husband, Brian Ratigan, yesterday. Let me explain a few things.
The lot you are asking about is 4730 Baltimore Ave. My husband and I, who bought the building next door at 4728 Baltimore in April (where Meskereem restaurant used to be), are buying the lot. (Now, before you think that we "forced Meskereem out," let me tell you that we did all that we could to keep them, but their lease had expired in the mid-90's and they were not willing to sign a new lease - with the same terms and at the same rent. They refused to even write on a piece of paper their understanding of their relationship with their previous landlord. They preferred to leave.) At this time, the owners of the 4730 Baltimore lot want to sell, and two of the three potential first floor tenants for our building at 4728 expressed an interest in being able to offer outdoor restaurant space. It seems like a good fit. The owners of the lot have allowed a group to use it for free for quite a while, but the owners still have the responsibility for taxes, liability, etc. and they don't want it any more. The current users pay nothing and the arrangement is informal. There is no lease. Recently L&I sent the current owners several violation notices, threatening to fine them, demanding that the lot be cleaned up, the huge compost piles removed, weeds removed, etc. There are also a number of old tires on the lot and termite-infested tree stumps. Near the sidewalk, it's obvious that people walk their dogs there and don't clean up after them. I'm not sure the people at L&I realize that the lot is used for gardening because, as John Ellingsworth pointed out, it's not immediately recognizable as a garden. At any rate, to avoid fines, the current owners have no choice but to get it cleaned up. When last I talked to them, they were trying to contact the gardeners because they didn't want to damage any of the gardeners' plants or equipment when cleaning up. From your message, I guess that the gardeners weren't happy when the owners got in touch with them. Idealistically I'd hoped that the gardeners would be appreciative of the owners' years of generosity and would help them now, but from your message it sounds as if that might not be the case. Putting out the word that someone is "forcing eviction" does not seem to be a grateful response. On a possibly related matter, I am dismayed by one subtle and one not-so-subtle threat which we've recently received next door at 4728 Baltimore. Several weeks ago someone taped a cartoon story to our building's front door. The cartoon panels criticized a new use for a storefront and ended with a brick being thrown through a storefront window. Then, yesterday, someone wrote "Die yuppie scum" on our front window in thick black marker. This time, we called the police. Brian and I bought 4728 Baltimore and are buying the lot because we care about our neighborhood and we think we can do something interesting with that spot, something that many in the community will enjoy. When 4728 was for sale, it was 2/3rds empty, had ugly billboards on the side of it overlooking the lot, and was in a general state of neglect. The plumbing for the restaurant bathroom was leaking directly into the basement. The building lacked the required fire safety alarm system. We took care of all of that, fixed up the two apartments, paid the billboard company to remove their ugly boards before the 2004 end of their lease term, (we could have collected rent from them for another three years but instead WE PAID THEM!) and now we want to add an interesting restaurant to Baltimore Ave. to join Dahlak and the coming Italian restaurant around the corner. We are not "yuppie scum." We're over 50 and we've been in University City for almost 30 years. Between us we've worked on the boards or committees of Cedar Park Neighbors, Spruce Hill Community Assn., Squirrel Hill Community Assn., the Firehouse Farmer's Market, Friends of Clark Park, the University City Historical Society, the Arts League, the Powelton Mantua Education Fund, the University City Community Council, the University City Promotions Group and Friends of Calvary. I was an organizer of last year's "giveback campaign" for the four local public schools. We've also organized house tours and fundraisers for a variety of causes. Nor is our tenant-to-be at 4728 Baltimore "yuppie scum." He's the block captain on his Cedar Ave. block. He's involved in local tree-planting initiatives. His children attend the Powel School. He's also on local boards. He just painted 4728 Baltimore to match the other storefronts on the block. He's worked in other peoples' restaurants for twenty years, and having his own restaurant is his dream. We think that he will be a great restauranteur, and we hope that you will enjoy his new place. Brian and I appreciate University City for its long history of tolerance and respect for those with different points of view. We think that our neighbors, with their terrific mix of different interests, occupations, lifestyles and backgrounds, make this a wonderful place to be, and I can't imagine living anywhere else. Today, however, I am angry to see these decidedly un-University City threats and manipulations of fact being used to try to intimidate us, the lot owners and our tenant. This is not what we would expect in the University City I have loved for thirty years. Whoever is doing this, whoever thinks that intimidation is acceptable practice here, is not only doing a disservice to us, but is also disrespecting the wider way of life in our tolerant community. Melani Lamond ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." 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